Review - Fables 112

Publisher
VERTIGO/DC

Writer
BILL WILLINGHAM

Artist
MARK BUCKINGHAM

What They Said
Don't miss the special holiday issue – and because you've been good all year, it's even got extra story pages! Christmas is here, and we know this holiday isn't always jolly for our favorite Fables. In this issue we get a glimpse into the future fates of our wild and dear Rose Red. 


What I Say
Its Christmas time for our plucky expatriated Fabletown residents, and they've received the greatest gift of all, a chance to go home.With the threat of Mr. Dark finally put aside, the Fables have returned to the upstate farm and are making plans for retaking their old residency in Manhattan. But before they move out they are taking a breather to celebrate the holidays. The Wolf family are also taking a break from the trials of choosing a new North Wind to spend possibly their last Christmas as a whole family. Meanwhile, Rose Red has an unexpected guest and goes on a Christmas adventure to see he possibly future as one of the newest Agents of Hope.

Over at DC proper right now, with their new 52 relaunch initiative there are a handful of titles priced at 3.99. Almost to a one they all feel lightweight and over priced. Some have back-ups, but some don't! 3.99 for 20/22 pages of story? What kind of insane madness has taken hold over there? This special issue of Fables is priced at 3.99 too. But that's okay because you actually get 30 pages of story. And not split over back-ups, but the actually meat and potatoes of the book. Reading this issue is satisfying. Its chunky and you really feel like you get your value out of it by the end. Remember issue 100? And how it cost 10 bucks for 100 pages? That was another really good deal too. Fables is nothing if not a really good value for your money. Stuff happens between its pages.

As to the story itself, I must admit I must have missed something along the way, because I was feeling a little clueless about Rose Red and her 'Agent of Hope' role. The fact that I don't recall the exact events that lead to this new chapter in her life is concerning. But regardless its certainly a change for the character, and its really interesting considering the character's storied history over the course of the book. The characters she meets on her journey, and what she learns about what it means to be an Agent of Hope is powerful stuff that's sure to shape her character and her fate for years to come. And yet, even with all this heavy life changing character stuff, there's still time for lighthearted humor and classic character interaction. Fables is nothing if not an ensemble book with many voices.

Mark Buckingham has always been a great artist, and his long run on this title has been nothing if not exemplary. That being said, a few things have been bugging me lately. First of all, the coloring just doesn't seem as eye popping as it once was (and lately I've been rereading the series in Deluxe Oversized Hardcover, and this change in coloring feels much more pronounced to me). And second of all the boarders. For those that don't know, for a very long time now pretty much everything Buckingham draws is constrained in a pair of static boarding images that often change with the portion of the story we're reading. For the most part its a very neat device for conveying the story's tone while we're reading. But lately I've just feeling like the boarders are compressing the art. There are no full-bleeds in Fables, panels are 'trapped' between these art boarders, and it makes things feel small and cramped sometimes. Full-page splashes are just end up being big panels, regular pages feel like they are losing valuable page real estate for more 'stuff'. The thing is, this has largely always been the case, but for some reason it been feeling more pronounced to me since issue 100. I'm honestly not sure why, but there you go.

I know it sounds like I'm bagging on a good thing, make no mistake Fables is one of my top titles every month. I'm not sure what I'd do without this contemporary fantasy stalwart on my pull list. A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.

Review - Spaceman 2

Let me preface and say I have not read 100 Bullets. Super sorry. The Deluxe Hardcovers are on my master 'to buy' list. I'll get to them at some point. I say this because I'm coming into reading Spaceman not as a Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso fan, as I'm sure many people reading the book are, but as a Science Fiction fan. That's right, the title's concept and premise were what got my attention, not the creative team involved. Shocking. I know. But if I've learned one thing reading Spaceman, its that I need to put 100 Bullets higher in my 'to buy' queue cause apparently these Azzarello and Risso cats are quite good.

Spaceman is story of Orson, a genetically modified human intended for Martian exploration. But instead of the red planet he and his brothers were built for, he got stuck on Earth with rampaging flooding from melting polar caps, huge class divides, and awful reality television. Spending his days salvaging wrecks and other junk from a bygone age from the vast growing ocean.

Last issue introduced us to Orson's world, and one of the key plot threads was the kidnapping of foster child, and popular star of a reality show (of which being part of the reality show is a prerequisite to being taken care of by her foster parents). Orson, while out salvaging, runs into the kidnapper, and gets a bullet for the trouble. Thing is, whatever Orson is is built tough. But while he's not physically hurt, it shakes something loose in his head. Since last issue we've been treated to flashes of Orson and his brothers on their Mars mission that never happened. What exactly these flashes are is a bit of a mystery, but wherever they're coming from they seem to correlate with whatever Orson is feeling at the time. I'm looking forward to seeing what those are all about.

What this book does well, and what I appreciate as a ravenous science fiction fan, is its world building. It presents a world that has become seriously damaged by the exploitation of mankind, but its still a world where society survives. There is still law and commerce, even in the face of ever increasing class stratification in a shrinking world striped of resources. A lot of thought has gone into this world and the people that inhabit it. The most obvious aspect of this world building is in the language characters use. Where most writers would just replace  few curse words and call it 'future speak', Azzarello has taken English and crafted a complex and believable future slag out of it. It takes some getting use to, but context is everything. Some people are going to find it obtuse and confusing, but I personally find it charming and really adds to the world. And individual characters have their own unique usage of the slang, so it gives different people from different backgrounds unique voices.

Good science fiction comics are often few and far between, especially ones as high profile as this comic (that $1 first issue was a brilliant marketing strategy, I hope it pays off). As a 9 issue mini-series, its going to be a very contained, manageable, series to invest your time in. I recommend checking it out. FANTASTIC.

Next: ACTION COMICS.

Review - Fables 111

On the topic of long running series. Fables is certainly getting up there. 111 issues is nothing to sneeze at in the sort of comic climate we live in. What with all the relaunches, retcons, and general numbering tom-foolery that goes on at the big-two. Issue 100 was a big milestone (and a big issue for that matter), but it lead into the... questionable Super Team arc. In truth the entire Mr. Dark storyline had felt a little off. Running for seemingly forever, and the pay-off wasn't exceptional. Though the rug-pulling of issue 100 was an interesting twist, if not for leading to Super Team, who's ending felt more of like a cop out then anything. But, interestingly, what spun out from that has been really good. Inherit the Wind has been a truly good arc, bring back much of the magic series has needed for the last year or so.

Inherit the Wind has the six children of Snow and Bigby Wolf going through a series of trials to determine who among them will be the new North Wind. Meanwhile former Fabletown Head Office clerk Bufkin the flying monkey has found himself as the self-appointed resistance leader against the Empire of Oz. Things are not going very smoothly in that regard.

The main story, sees the return of Bellflower (Totenkinder) and her new squeeze Dunster after their ordeal helping the old North Wind defeat Mr. Dark. Their picked up by Winter (one of Snow's daughters) who has some how blundered into the homeland of the North Wind. A place from which there is no return. Unless you know the dangerous winds that guard it that is. Meanwhile in Oz, Bufkin is to be executed for crimes against the Empire.

This storyline has had a chance to really flesh out the Snow and Bigby's kids, who by and large have never fully been in the spotlight (except Ambrose a handful of times). Given that chance, and the crowning of one of them as King of the North Wind, and how one of them reacts.  I still don't feel we've been given a good chance to get to know them individually beyond fairly simplistic archetypes. That being said, Snow and Bigby are in rare form, Snow her usual headstrong leader self, and Bigby seemingly out of his element for once.

All that being said, I'm seriously curious when the story will get back to reestablishing Fabletown. And dealing with what Mr. Dark left behind in the ruins of the last one. With Werewolves of the Heartland OGN delayed/cancelled again, I'm seriously wondering if that's still a long way off. I like the Homelands, and what they offer, but without a Fabletown to establish the Fables in our mundane world, it raises a lot of questions (like, why do they continue to stay here now that the Adversary is long out of the picture?) Really hope the series gets to that soon.

Next: NEAR DEATH.